Our Signature Sent

So for those of you who don’t know, the new sent of the season is...Be’Be’ Barfe’!!!!!! It is the perfect mixture of the slightest sent of vomit and soured milk. The sent lasts all day. It can be used on your clothing, especially your shoulder or lap. Also works nicely to sent hair, furniture, sheets, blankets, baby clothing, baby swings, car seats, and flooring. Other uses yet to be discovered. Free samples available immediately after feedings and anytime in between. Available anywhere the Howland Boys are present.

First Weekend Away from Home

We are headed for our first weekend away from home since busting out of the NICU. Daddy is playing in the Father's Day Tournament in Orofino, so we are going to go watch him play and help him celebrate his very first Father's Day.

We will be staying at Grammie M's and Papa D-D's house. We have never been to the log house on the hill, but we think we will really enjoy it.

We will have Mommy or Daddy post some pictures of our weekend when we get back home.

Oh, and we are going with Mommy to get her hair done tomorrow. She is very excited, she hasn't had it done since last winter, when we were still in her belly. Grammie M will be there to help take care of us.

We are officially WIRELESS!!!!!

We got a phone call today from Norco telling us that the doctor has discontinued Braylon’s heart monitor. So we can get rid of Braylon’s “laptop” and we are officially wireless. This will make life so much easier not having all the extra baggage to carry around everywhere we go. It was difficult taking them anywhere because not only did we have two car seats and a diaper bag to get out of the car but the monitor and the oxygen tank too. I’m sure the boys are happy to not have all that stuff attached to them too. They are finally like “real” babies.

Norco will be by tomorrow to pick up all of the equipment. Yipee!!!

Mommy and Daddy's Little Rays of Sunshine

Kaden is in yellow. Braylon is wearing blue.

Bye-Bye O2

Kaden is officially off of his oxygen. We were able to wean him down to room air on Thursday night and he has been off of the oxygen ever since. I haven’t had the nerve to call Norco to come pick up the big tank and the portable tanks just yet. I think having them around wards off the oxygen spirits. I know I’m a little superstitious but I am afraid as soon as they come and pick all of it up we will need it again. Chances are we won’t, but I think we will keep around until next week and then we can part with it. I do have to say, it has been much easier getting out and about without Kaden’s golf clubs (that’s what we call the little black bag with the portable oxygen tank because it resembles a small golf bag).
Braylon has been off of his caffeine for a week and a couple of days. This wasn’t intentional, it just sort of happened that way. We had a hard time getting Norco to come and swap out the monitors so they could download the readings and send them up to Spokane. In the meantime we ran out of caffeine. When I noticed we were getting low, I called around to the pharmacies around town but none of them carry what we are looking for. I had one girl offer the over-the-counter “No-Doz”. I chuckled and told her, “No, I don’t think that is what we are looking for.” I called up to the doctor’s office to see if they had received the download and they had not. Norco had not even sent it to them. They said to just wait until the doctor has a chance to look at it before having the Sacred Heart Pharmacy send more caffeine down by mail, since no one carries it down here.
Hopefully we will hear from them tomorrow. Last night his monitor went off several times, showing “Low Heart Rate” but when I flipped on the light, he looked perfectly fine. It is so strange because if it is going to go off it is always in the car or the middle of the night. This makes it hard to determine if it is a “real” or a false alarm. I think we will have to have the readings from this monitor sent up to Spokane too. Maybe Norco will be on the ball this time and not wait a week before sending the readings up there. We will be happy to get rid of Braylon’s laptop too (that’s what we call Braylon’s monitor because it resembles a small laptop in a carrying case).
I will have to tell you about Kaden’s peace pipe another time. We have nicknames for everything. It makes it easier if we can make light of some of it.

Mommyhood

This is Ashley, I have decided that it’s actually time for me to sit down and write a little blurp on the blog. The boys have been keeping me very busy. They are still eating every 4 hours which means I only get about 3 hours of sleep between feedings by the time both boys are fed changed and put back to bed, on the nights Bryan has to work the next morning.
Although it is exhausting I am really enjoying my time as a full time mommy. For those of you who don’t know, I have lost my position at St. Joseph ER because I exhausted my maternity leave while we were in Spokane. Right now, while the boys on are the monitor and oxygen, either Bryan or I have to be home with them. I do miss my co-workers but wouldn’t trade all the extra time at home with my boys for anything. I know I can never have this time with them again so I’m going to enjoy it and not stress about returning to work.
Both boys have been evaluated for the Infant/Toddler Program because of their prematurity. A developmental specialist came to our home to assess the boys and their development. Both boys are doing very well for their adjusted age. They base their age on how old they would be had they of been born full term. They take all of the information provided by a form I had to fill out and what the developmental specialist determines and as a group they develop a plan to meet any developmental needs. Our goal is that all developmental needs have been resolved by age two. It is believed that prematurity can cause some delays in development but with early intervention it can be corrected.
It has been hard to break myself of the exact science of the NICU and relying on numbers. Everything in the NICU was based on some mathematical equation, ok not everything, but it seemed that way. They determined the amount of their feedings based on their weight gain from the night before multiplied by some number. They had minimum amount they had to eat each day. Then we get home and feel completely lost. I don’t know why but common sense parenting went right out the window when we had NICU babies. I had gotten so use to the boys being weighed every night and I was reassured that even when breastfeeding they were getting enough. Finally after some anxiety from bringing the boys home from the NICU, I had to give myself a pep talk. It was something like this, “Ok, Ashley, you are a smart girl. If the boys are not getting enough while breastfeeding they will just wake up from hunger, duh!” So that day it all clicked and things have been going very well. Not to say we don’t face some challenges but at least I have the confidence to just trust in myself and my motherly instinct.
Well, I have plenty more to write about but the boys are getting hungry and what can I say, they pretty much call the shots around here.

Photos from our visit at G-Grandma and G-Grandpa Currier's

NIP TUCKED

Last thursday the boys got nipped and tucked. Yup they were circumcised. It lasted about 15 minutes per child, and it wasn't as bad as i had thought. The boys screamed for a short time but after all was done they were pretty good. They ate after word and then had a quick nap. The were a little fussy for the rest of the day but soon forgot about the next day. We had to go back in yesterday as we thought Braylon had a little infection on his tallywacker. I took him in and the doctor gave us some other ointment and said that it was fairly swollen and he might have had a little infection. After all was said and done I took my own opinion on the whole process and it wasn't as bad as i had thought, but still painful for the boys. We also went up to Great Grandma Betty and Great Grandpa Georges house for a few meals this week. The boys met their cousin Haley and Uncle Rocky, and my mom was also down to visit. We had some great food and great visits. I will post some pictures later.

A Special Thanks

This is long overdue, but we would like to pay a special thanks to the Jackson Pay It Forward Foundation. They have been so generous to our family and we are extremely grateful for all of their help. They are truly a blessing to our family and to our community. It is amazing how a family can take such a tragic loss and carry on Jackson’s legacy in such a positive way. We encourage everyone to pay it forward, we know we will.

To read more about Jackson’s Legacy and the Jackson Pay It Forward Foundation please visit: www.jacksonspayitforward.com